Tied to the Mob
by FlyingLikeaPhantom
Summary: After a mysterious phone call, Patrick Jane and the CBI team are asked to investigate a murder. But when Jane is kidnapped under strange circumstances, it's up to the rest of the team to find out what happened to him...before it's too late.
1. Pictures of Jane

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Okie-dokie! So this is my first fan fiction on the Mentalist! So please go easy on me. Im a new fan of the show, so if I get something wrongtell me and I will do my best to fix it! Mkay? Thank you! So please read and review! J Have fun! Ohand it is a bit heavy in the Jisbon category! NOT A LOVE STORY! I promise!

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Disclaimer: I do NOT own The Mentalist or any of the wonderful characters! I do own the bad guys! Thanks!

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"Jane, come on. We don't have time for this!"

"Just one time, Lisbon! Come on!"

Lisbon tried to pull her hand away from the annoying consultant, but he wouldnt have that. He pulled her out of her seat and lead her into the middle of the bullpen, smiling as he did so. He kept a hold of her hand, keeping eye contact with her the whole way and pinning her down with his intense stare. She hated it when he did that. He could be such a child at times. Always demanding attention and never stopping until he got it.

She'd been busy working on a case--an important one at that--trying to pin a well-known mob boss to a murder and fraud charge. They had been working hard all morning long--chasing paper trails, false leads, and all other kinds of dead ends. Well, everyone but Jane had been working hard. He'd spent most of the day pestering the mess out of Lisbon. Sitting on her desk, whistling annoying show tunes, sipping tea noisily, and asking her stupid questions about unrelated subjects. Not that it was out of the ordinary, but it was still annoying. But it had gotten worse when he realized Van Pelt had a CD player on her computer. And that put him on a roll.

He practically dragged the poor CBI leader to the center of the floor in want of a dance. She tried to protest, but Jane wouldn't hear of it. He was so stubborn sometimes.

Jane stopped and looked over at a smiling Van Pelt. She had been all for a break in the monotonous paper diving of the day, and she had agreed to help Jane with his little scheme. "Maestro?" he said with a flourish of his hand. Grace grinned sweetly and pressed play. Frank Sinatras, _Ive Got You Under My Skin, _played softly through the office as Jane smiled mischievously at his victi..._companion..._

"Jane, please dont make me do this," Lisbon complained. She gave a pleading look to Grace who just shrugged and pretended to go back to work. So much for that plan.

Patrick ignored Lisbon's whining and took her right hand in his. "Oh, come on, Lisbon, have some fun. Goodness knows you need it," he commented as he began to twirl her around in a circle.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" she hissed as he spun her around again. She heard Rigsby snicker. Her eyes focused on the huge cop as she was twirled around to face him. The big man squirmed in his seat as she pinned him with a glare. Van Pelt snickered at Rigsby's reaction. Lisbon was three sizes shorter than the dark haired man, but she could still put the fear of Lisbon in his heart. And he always looked so adorable when she did.

"It means, you've been working too hard," Patrick stated as he pulled her closer to him and placed her left hand on his shoulder. "Besides," She tried to slide it off, but he quickly jerked her hand back up. "you can go back to finding evidence against your little mob boss through a paper trail when I'm done." He gently placed his right hand on her waist. Her heart sped up as he touched her side.

"The more time we spend dancing, the farther away Antonio Emilio gets!" she said, trying to hide her embarrassing discomfort.

Jane made a snorting noise. "The man thinks he's untouchable. He's a self-absorbed, overly confident man-"

"Now, who does that sound like?" interrupted Lisbon with a smirk.

Jane gave her a grin and spun her quickly. Lisbon's head began to swim as the sudden movement caught her off guard. "As I was saying," Jane said as he pulled Lisbon back into his arms. "he's overly confident and is bound to make a mistake soon."

Lisbon steadied her dizzied head. "And if he doesn't? What if we miss him because you had me doing the foxtrot across the bullpen?"

"First of all, we are waltzing," he corrected as they danced across the floor. "I never learned how to do the foxtrot. And second of all..." He pulled her closer to him, their bodies now pressed tightly together. Oh, why wouldn't her heart quit fluttering like that!

"W-We have to finish this case," she interrupted, her voice wavering as Jane swayed back and forth with her in his arms. Wow, she never knew he was this muscular. "I mean, seriously, whats the point of this?"

Jane twirled with her in his arms and enjoyed the little flicker of discomfort that played across her face. "I told you. Fun. You needed a break." He winked at her.

Lisbon rolled her eyes and tried to push him away, but he held on tight. "Jane! We have work to do! We don't have time for breaks!" she growled. "If the biggest crime lord in California gets away because you were being an idiot, Im going to lock you up!" she snapped as she tried to pull her hands away from him.

"Hold on, Lisbon. We're almost finished," he teased as he kept a hold of her. He spun one last time around the bullpen enjoying the glares from the enraged Lisbon in his arms. She was so cute when she was angry. "And now," he said with a mischievous grin. His eyes sparkled with delight. "the finale!"

"Finale?" she squeaked. She gave Jane a disgusted look. "Oh, please, no!"

Jane's eyes lit up as he dipped Lisbon in his arms, holding her just inches away from the floor. The detective's eyes widened as she saw his face so close to hers...within _kiss..._er...head butting distance of her own. She tried to stifle a blush that was slowly finding its way to her face as he held her there for a few more seconds.

"That's not awkward," came the unmistakably monotone voice of Cho from the doorway.

Jane and Lisbon disconnected their gazes from each other and stared up at Cho. The blush that had been trying to fight its way onto Lisbon's face broke past her emotional barriers and graced her cheeks. This was so humiliating. Cho just stared down at them; a look that read "saw that one coming," appeared on his face before he made his way back to his desk.

"Jane! Let me up! This is _not_ professional!" she hissed as she focused back on his face. She struck him on the shoulder with her loose hand, hoping he'd let go.

Jane grinned. "No, it's not. But it's fun." Lisbon growled at him. Patrick just shrugged and lifted her up, spinning her a couple of times before releasing her. The CBI detective shook her head as the quickness of the spins caused her head to swirl once again. She stood there for a minute, trying to focus her eyes.

"I hate you," she stated as she grumpily made her way back to her desk, staggering part of the way.

Jane sighed and stretched out on the brown couch by the window. "No you dont," he yawned. He laid his body across the cushions and crossed his arms behind his head. "You just hate the fact that you find me so blindingly attractive."

The whole office went silent as they stared, dumb struck, at the smirking Jane. Lisbon opened her mouth to retort, but nothing would come out. She tried desperately to find something to say, but her brain went completely blank. Suddenly, her phone rang giving her a reason to ignore Jane's teasing. The consultant just looked up at her smugly and winked, provoking an exasperated sigh from Lisbon as she yanked the phone off of the receiver.

"Lisbon here," she said shortly, still glaring at Jane's smug face. How she hated it when he was right!

"There's a body under the Golden Gate Bridge."

He was just so smug...Wait, what?

Lisbon blinked in surprise and stared down at her desk. "What did you just say?" she asked. Maybe she had heard him wrong.

"There's a body under the Golden Gate Bridge," repeated the deep, hard voice.

"That's what I thought you said," she said with surprise and disbelief. He was direct. "Uh, may I ask who's calling?"

"No," came the gruff reply.

Lisbon blinked. "Okay..." She was at a loss of words.

"I want Mr. Jane on the case," demanded the mystery caller.

Lisbon stared at the couch where Jane was lying, his eyes closed and his hands folded neatly behind his head. "Uh, why do you want him? He's just a consultant." Jane's eyes fluttered open.

"I just do. Short and simple." He paused. "And this may help you with your current case, _Theresa_." And with that, the line went dead. Lisbon held the phone in her hands for a few astonished seconds before slipping it back in its cradle. Help her with her current case? How did he know they were evern working on one? Or her first name?

Her eyes darted to the couch where Jane was now standing by, his curious eyes staring into her bewildered ones. She sighed and looked at the rest of the team, their eyes all focused on her.

"Looks like we have another case. Apparently, it could lead us to Emilio."

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"Well, that's just...gross."

Jane wrinkled his nose as the smell of decay rose from the bay to assault his nostrils. He followed Lisbon and the others down the slope to the mangled and broken female body below, the stench growing worse and worse as they came closer. _That's what you get when you leave a body out the sun, _he thought to himself. Jane placed his arm over his nose trying to keep the disgusting aroma from making his eyes water. He smiled as he caught the scent of Lisbon's perfume still lingering on his coat.

"Ugh, why does it smell so bad?" Rigsby said through his jacket.

"Because its a dead body," Cho stated, his own arm covering his nose.

Lisbon pulled a tissue out of her pocket and held it tightly against her face as she bent closer to the body. "A dead body cooking in the hot sun," she said through watery eyes. The tissue was certainly not helping. Her stomach was having a blast telling her that. She ignored the queasiness and tilted her head upwards to stare at the bridge above them. "From the way she landed, it looks like she was thrown off of the bridge. Maybe she broke her neck on the way down." She looked at the three officers behind her who agreed but would come no closer to the body. Lisbon didn't blame them. She couldn't even believe _she _was this close.

"Maybe," commented Jane as he stooped down next to her. "but I doubt it."

Lisbon glanced over at the consultant. "Why do you say that?" she asked. Curiosity always got the best of her whenever he was around.

Jane pointed with his index finger to the woman's broken neck being careful to keep one arm over his nose. "If she was alive when she was pushed off of the bridge, she would have more bruises and blood on her. She doesn't even have a scratch. The only bruising looks to be on her neck." He pointed out the grotesque bruising. "And that looks like it came from being strangled, not having her neck snapped. She was probably dumped out here after she was dead."

Lisbon bent closer to the body to see what he was pointing at. She nodded. "Looks like your right."

"As usual," he smugly stated. She rolled her eyes. Why was she attracted to him again?

She stood up and felt her stomach unclench with a thank you as she did so. "But what does that mean exactly?"

Jane looked as if he was about to answer, but something caught his eye. A flash had just gone off above him. His head quickly shot up to the bridge. He swore he just saw someone watching them...someone with a camera. He stood up slowly, still scanning the area. "There's no one there," he whispered to himself after he scanned the bridge.

"No one where?" asked Van Pelt who had moved next to him.

"I could've sworn I just saw someone taking our picture from up there," he said pointing to where he thought he saw the man.

The rest of the team followed his finger. "I don't see anyone," Rigsby spoke up.

Jane sighed. "Hmm..." He could have sworn there was someone there.

"Maybe the fumes from the body are getting to your head," Cho said grimly.

"They're sure making my head spin," Rigsby chimed in.

Jane shook his head. "Maybe..." He kept staring at the spot he had seen the man just few seconds before. Something didn't feel right. "But I've never been wrong before."

"There's a first for everything," Lisbon chuckled as she walked back up the slope. Jane didn't even notice her humor. The CBI officer turned to her team. "All right guys, lets go find forensics and see what their team found on the victim." The other three started scrambling up the hill--rather quickly to Lisbon's amusement--while Jane kept staring up at the bridge. The CBI leader watched for a minute as the man continued scanning for the man with the camera. "Jane," she finally said as her stomach reminded her of the dead body a few feet away. He turned around to face her. "Lets go."

Jane looked back at the bay. Maybe he had just been imagining things. Of course, he'd never been wrong before. Ever. He sighed and got a nose full of stink. His stomach heaved and he was immediately up the hill with the rest of the team, the man with the camera out of his mind...for now.

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On the top of the bridge, a lone figure quickly ducked into his car, his camera hanging from his neck. He shoved his key into the ignition and took off down the bridge, headed for base. He had what he came for. He had the picture of the team. And more specifically, he had a picture of the man they were looking for.

_Patrick Jane._

The curly headed one, no doubt. He had seemed more than sure of his deduction about the dead young woman. And, from everything the man had heard from the bug they had planted in the deceased woman's clothes, he had been completely correct. Strangled, not broken. The man himself had seen to that. He had even thrown her off the bridge and called in the tip. All so he could get a glimpse of the famous Mr. Patrick Jane.

He smiled to himself at his cleverness. When he was well down the road, he pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial three. He didn't have to wait long for someone to pick up. He smiled as his boss personally answered the phone.

"I assume youve found him?" came a suave voice. No pleasantries. Just business. That's the way he ran things.

The man smiled. "Oh, yes. He's every bit as amazing as they say."

He heard a satisfied grunt. "Good. Good." There was a pause. "Use whatever force necessary to get him here. I'd prefer him unharmed, but if it can't be helped..." He let the sentence hang. The man gave a grunt of acknowledgment. "See you _both_ tonight?" It was more of an order than a question.

The man laughed. "I can assure you, Mr. Jane will most certainly be over for dinner..."

"Good. See you there." The line went dead.

"He'll be over," he repeated to himself with a wicked grin. "Whether he likes it or not..."

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Okay, so what did you think? I know its a bit confusing with the Antonio thing and the dead girl and all, but it gets explained in the next chapter! I promise! Well, please review! Thanks!

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	2. Watching and Waiting

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Hey, peoples! I'm glad you liked the first installment of my first Mentalist story! And thanks for the reviews! Much appreciated! Okay, so shall we move on with the story? After the disclaimer, of course...

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Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Mentalist or any of the wonderful characters! I DO, however, own the bad guys!

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Lisbon sighed as she watched Jane walk onto the busy Golden Gate Bridge, still looking for his mystery camera man. He had been antsy to get on that bridge as soon as possible, bugging her like crazy to let him have "just a little peek". Lisbon had ignored him and ordered him to wait and listen to what forensics had found. And they hadn't found much. No ID or wallet. She was most likely robbed by the looks of it. The only thing they had found on her of any value was a silver broach on her jacket. Nobody was sure why the murderers had left that behind, so she had asked Jane what he thought. She had hoped he had been able to derive something from what they said, but he was too focused on getting on that stupid bridge to focus on much of anything.

She had tried to convince him that he was just seeing things, and the flash he saw was just a glint from a passing car's window. But, the stubborn consultant would have none of it. He was adamant that he had seen someone and wasn't about to give up. When he got his mind set on something, there was no getting it off. And when Jane ran off, one of her team members always got stuck on Jane-sitting duty. _Nobody_ liked that.

"Okay," she said once Jane was out of ear shot. "Who's turn is it this time?"

She looked over at Cho who shook his head. "Uh-uh. I babysat last time."

"I was the time before that," Van Pelt interjected quickly.

The CBI leader sighed. "Well, I can't watch him. I'm still working on the Antonio case."

All eyes drifted to Rigsby. His mouth opened as he tried to come up with some sort of excuse, but he could think of nothing. He just stood there, opening and closing his mouth. _A good impression of a fish_, Van Pelt laughed to herself. _A very cute fish..._

Rigsby realized he'd been had and gave a frustrated grunt. "I'll watch him," he groaned before trudging after a rather focused Jane.

Lisbon felt sorry for the Rigsby. Jane was a hard man to keep up with. Not just because he was gifted, but because he was a genuine pain in the neck. She was glad it wasn't her turn to watch him. The last time she had watched Jane, she almost shot him for being so annoying. And, on days like this, she wished she would have.

She watched as Rigsby trailed after Jane, keeping his distance from the consultant. Jane turned around to see Rigsby close behind. He looked over at Lisbon and shot her a look. She just shrugged and gave him an innocent smile. Oh, she was _so_ glad it wasn't her.

"Okay," She turned to face her equally relieved team. "you two go find out what else you can about our victim. See if you can find any connection to our current case. If the anonymous caller was correct, then we should have another tie to Antonio." They nodded. "I'm going to go back to CBI to see if I can find another lead on the fraud case, maybe even track down our mystery caller himself and see if he could help us out."

They nodded and parted their separate ways, the two agents headed back for the decaying body. Lisbon watched the two walk off before getting into her SUV with a sigh. Sifting through paperwork alone was not what she had in mind today. She was in for a long, hard, boring day. _But, _she thought with a chuckle, _at least I'm not stuck watching Jane._

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Jane moaned as he heard Rigsby's heavy footsteps on the concrete behind him. Lisbon had sent a babysitter after him...again. He hated when she did that, especially when it was Rigsby. The oaf was so loud sometimes. He turned to face the oncoming Rigsby, shooting Lisbon a glare as he did so. She just smiled and shrugged before turning back to talk to her team. Oh, he'd be giving her a hard time for this one. He rolled his eyes and went back to searching for clues on the bridge, trying to ignore a rather hovering Rigsby.

"So where did you see this guy?" he asked, more frustrated than interested. He couldn't believe he got stuck with Jane _again_.

Jane glanced up at him. "On the bridge," he said sarcastically. Rigsby smiled. Typical Jane. He'd learned in the past to ignore Jane's caustic comments and move on. That was just the consultant's personality.

He watched as Jane turned his head this way and that, searching the bridge carefully for anything that could possibly give him proof of his camera man. He paced back and forth on the spot where he had seen the man, looking for a hint of something: a footprint, a discarded piece of trash, anything really. Anything that would give him his evidence. As his eyes examined the spot once more, a flutter in his peripherals caught his attention. His head darted swiftly to a small piece of paper flapping in the wind. The paper was taped to a rail just a few feet away from Patrick. Curiosity taking over, he made his way over towards it, Rigsby treading close behind.

Jane carefully inspected the piece of paper before gently peeling it off of it's perch. His camera man must have taped it to the railings before he left. Why? Jane didn't know, but he was about to find out. He slowly flipped the paper over, his eyes widening as he saw what was printed on the front of what he now realized was a note. Rigsby saw the sudden change in facial expression and was instantly by Jane's side.

What is it? he asked, trying to look at the letter in the mentalist's hands.

Jane looked at him, his eyes confused. "It's a note." Rigsby took the piece of paper from Jane's hand. "A note to me."

The CBI detective wrinkled his brow and looked down at the paper. A note was scribbled on the note in perfect cursive. It read:

_To Mr. Patrick Jane_

_*click* We found you._

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"Told you I was right."

Lisbon looked up from the mysterious letter to a smug Jane perched on the edge of her desk. He grinned stupidly at her.

"You're not the least bit concerned by this, are you?" she asked, wagging the note in his face.

He just smiled and shrugged. "Not really." He paused and put a finger on his chin. "I am concerned about my tea, though. I hope the water's boiling by now," he said as he walked out of the office and to the kitchen.

Lisbon gave him a disbelieving look. "You get a strange, threatening note," she said as she followed him. "and you're more worried about your tea?"

Jane looked at his water and smiled as he saw it boiling. He grabbed a tea cup out of the cupboard and opened the fridge. "I think you're being over dramatic," he stated as he grabbed some milk and poured it in his cup before adding his hot water.

Lisbon gave him an incredulous look. "_Over dramatic_?" she squeaked. "How am I being over dramatic?"

Jane dipped his tea bag in his cup and inhaled the sweet scent of the drink. "Because, the letter wasn't threatening." He took a sip and smiled at the wonderful taste. He loved a good cup of tea.

"How do you guess that? The guy knew who you were. You said it yourself that he was taking pictures of you. How is that not threatening?"

Jane shrugged. "I will admit, the picture taking was a bit unnerving, especially when I confirmed he was taking pictures of me specifically. I deducted that much from the note. The 'click' was a nice touch. Very theatrical." He sipped his tea again, enjoying the face of a confused Lisbon. That had to be his favorite face by-far. "But the letter itself had no threat to it. It simply said, 'We found you.'"

"And that's not a threat?" she asked, still confused at his strange behaviour. She was more worried about him than he was for himself.

"Nope." He blew past her to the bullpen and sat on his couch, sipping his tea like a man without a stalker on his tail. Lisbon followed him into the office and sat down at her desk. He looked over at her. "But I guess I should be a bit worried, seeing as he did plant the body. Probably just for me to see..."

All eyes shot up to Jane. "What did you just say?" Lisbon asked.

"Hmm? Oh. Yeah, the guy on the bridge was our murderer. He dropped the body down there and called in the tip. Your mystery caller was our killer." He took a sip of his tea, enjoying the attention he was receiving from his colleagues. "Oh, and he also heard every word we said by the body."

"How?" Cho said, his brow furrowed.

Jane looked at him. "I swear, that is the only other facial expression you have," he teased Cho. He looked back at Lisbon. "The body was tapped. I believe it was the broach forensics found, yeh?"

Lisbon raised an eyebrow. "And how would you know that?"

He shrugged. "The murderer, or murderers, stole everything of value on her...except for the broach. It was obvious that it was valuable, so why wouldn't they have stolen it? Either they were stupid, or they were recording."

"But why would they want to record us?" Van Pelt spoke up.

Jane took a sip of his tea and shook his head. "Mmm...no. Not recording _us._ Recording me." He crossed his legs and watched his companions.

After a few seconds of silence, Lisbon said, "You care to elaborate on that a bit?"

"I don't mind," he grinned. Lisbon rolled her eyes. He set his tea down. "I'm obviously the target here. The note proves that. The call was most likely to lure me out into the open. A setup if you would."

"But why would they want to bring you out in the open. To take your picture?" Rigsby asked.

Jane shrugged. "I'm not a psychic, Wayne," he said simply, picking his tea back up again.

Lisbon watched Jane sip his tea nonchalantly, her head whirling with the deductions he had just made. She walked over towards him. "Fine, if all of what you said is true, I want an armed guard with you at all times."

Jane choked on his tea, genuinely surprised. "Do what?" he sputtered as he dabbed at his mouth with the back of his hand. He watched as her lips twitched up into a grin; she finally surprised him. She never knew it would feel this good. Jane kept gawking at her.

"You heard me," she said, savoring his surprise. This never happened to her. She liked it. She kept her eyes on the bewildered, now angering, Jane as she said, "Rigsby, you wouldn't mind staying with Mr. Jane tonight, would you?" She almost giggled as she heard the two men groan simultaneously.

"I guess not," he muttered. He glared at a snickering Van Pelt. Why couldn't Grace have been in danger? He wouldn't have minded watching her...

Lisbon nodded. "Good," she said with a nod of her head. "then it's settled. Rigsby will stay with you tonight." She turned to walk back to her desk but felt a tug on her hand. Her heart lept into her throat as she felt Jane's unmistakable hand on hers.

"Lisbon," he said in a gentle voice. She turned to face him, praying that her cheeks weren't red. "Please." He placed both hands on hers and caressed her fingers sweetly. She felt her heart speed up and swallowed hard. He locked his gaze with hers and stared into her beautiful eyes. "You know that I'll be fine. I always am. Rigsby doesn't have to stay with me. No one is coming after me, I promise."

Lisbon's body suddenly felt like jelly as she stared at him. Her mind became hazy as her stomach tingled pleasantly. His voice seemed to slow her pulse down while his touch sent warm, comforting feelings up her arms. She felt like agreeing to anything.

"Okay," she whispered in a daze. Jane smiled at her and squeezed her hand tenderly.

"So, Rigsby doesn't have to watch me tonight?" Jane stated more than asked. He saw the big man lean forward in anticipation.

Lisbon stared at him blankly. "N-No. I guess not. You can take care of yourself."

Jane grinned from ear to ear. He suddenly stood up and dropped his connection with Lisbon causing her to blink rapidly as she was released from her trance. Jane looked at his watch and grimaced. "Ooh, its getting kind of late! I better be getting home! See you all in the morning!" He walked past Lisbon as quickly as he could hoping he could get out of there before she realized what he just did.

The CBI leader just stared after him, unsure of what just happened. She watched as he walked out of the office, headed home. Suddenly, something clicked and she whirled on Rigsby. "Did he just do what I _think _he just did?" she seethed, realization hitting her hard in the face.

Rigsby looked completely taken off guard. "Uh, I'm not sure. What do you think he just did?"

Van Pelt smiled and looked at the impassive Cho, a glint forming in the Asian detective's eyes. "He just hypnotized you," Cho said, a tiny hint of amusement buried in his monotone voice. Lisbon's eyes widened and her nostrils flared. She whirled around to face the doorway again, anger clearly written on her flushed face.

"JANE!!"

Patrick Jane smirked at the sound of an enraged Lisbon echoing through the hallways as he exited the building. Oh yeah. He just got her back good.

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The black van pulled up across the street from CBI headquarters, two men dressed in dark suits sitting in the front. The driver turned the car off and stared out of the window, waiting for something to happen. The man and his passenger sat there in silence for an hour, neither one of them letting their eyes leave the front of the offices. One of the men held a surveillance picture in his hand. The one that he had taken that day. A well dressed, curly headed man occupied the picture along with a young woman with short, dark hair. Their target: the man with curly hair. The same man who happened to be walking out of the CBI headquarters now, smiling and walking with a little skip.

The man with the picture looked at his companion and nodded. "That's him," he said, his deep voice filling up the silence of the van. They watched as the man got into a vehicle and pulled out of the parking lot. The men waited for a few more seconds before starting up the van and following the curly headed man known as Mr. Jane. They tailed him from behind, keeping their distance. When Jane pulled into what they knew to be his home, they kept driving and parked a few blocks down. The driver turned off the car and looked into the back of the van. Three other men sat in the back, currently pulling on ski masks.

"We'll wait for a few more hours and watch his house. When we are sure he's asleep, we'll go in and grab him. No guns. The boss doesn't want him harmed, understood?" There was a collection of nods. "Good." He looked at the man in the passenger's seat. "You wait in the car until we call for you." The man nodded. The driver pulled on his own ski mask and smiled. "Lets go."

The four men silently got out of the van and walked towards Jane's house. They sneaked around the yard, ducking and hiding when needed. The driver smiled as he saw the figure of Jane crawling into bed and turn off the lights.

It was time Jane met his camera man...

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Okay, guys! So there's a little cliffy for you! Hope you liked it! Tell me if you did and review, please! J Thanks! Read on!

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	3. Screams

_Hiya, fellow Mentalist fans! So, I know in the last two chapters that the apostrophes have been missing, but apparently fan fiction doesn't like those or quotation marks when you load in your story! I am trying to correct that in this story! Thanks for your patience! Have fun with this next chapter!_

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_Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Mentalist or any of the wonderful characters that make the show what it is! I do, however, own the bad guys!_

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_"You ruined my life!"_

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Jane stared into the eyes of his family's killer, his face red with anger and want for blood. Red John's eyes glittered with sadistic pleasure as he forced Jane to his knees and pressed a knife to his throat. He ran the cold steel across Jane's neck without cutting him and smiled at the shiver the man gave him as he did so.

_"I ruined your life?" he hissed. He pulled Jane's head back and laughed. "Jane, I think we both know who ruined your life." He put his face to Jane's ear. "You did. You ruined your life and the life of your precious family when you became a fake. A fraud. Your family's death is all _your_ fault, Jane." Red John released his head with a shove and stood in front of a crying Jane. _

_Harsh, cold reality slapped Jane hard in the face. It was his fault. All his fault. Why couldn't he have just been honest? Every lie he ever told, every fake reading...it had all been for money and fame. His own personal gain. He was so arrogant and cocky…and it had cost him his wife and daughter. He felt Red John press the knife to Jane's chest, a sadistic laugh ripping through the night as he lifted the knife to strike. The knife came down, fast, but Jane didn't care. Soon, he'd be with his family, and that's all that mattered. _

_The knife struck his chest…and the world went black…_

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Jane sat up with a start, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. His breathing came out in short shallow rasps as rivulets of sweat ran down his face. He placed a hand to his chest to feel for the deadly gash in his chest where Red John had stabbed him. He pulled his hand away, relieved when he realized it was all a just dream. He ran a hand over his face and sighed. The dreams were getting worse. _Much _worse. Red John was making his life miserable without even being there; now he was haunting his every dream.

Jane slowly turned around to face the bloody smiley face that still adorned the wall over his bed. A shiver ran up his back as he stared at the demented face, its grotesquely happy face painted with the blood of his family. A single tear trickled down his face as he slammed his fist on the mattress. He put his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. This was becoming ridiculous. He was obsessed with revenge, and it was slowly consuming his life. Every day and every night, Red John disturbed his every thought. He was beginning to take over Jane's life. His desire for the serial killer's blood fueled his mentalist abilities and had made him stronger.

But at what cost?

What would happen when he killed Red John? Would he feel free of his burden? Or would it only get worse because of his choice to kill? He had been told by several of his companions that his obsession would either get him killed or arrested, but he didn't care. He wanted Red John dead. But did he _really_? Did he really want a man's blood on his hands? Did he really wish to kill like Red John and the other murderers he had put away just for a few seconds of revenge?

"Bah." Jane's voice bounced off the empty walls of the room as he slapped his forehead. He needed a drink. A _big _one. Scotch would probably do it. Well, maybe a _whole_ bottle of scotch would do it...But then there would be that terrible hangover in the morning...

_Who cares?_ he thought to as he pulled himself off of his mattress and slipped on his brown slippers. He put his hand on the door handle and turned to look at the smiley. He grit his teeth. "Make that _two _bottles of scotch," he said as he pulled open the door.

Suddenly, something hit him square in the chest causing him to fly backwards into the room. Black dots played at the edge of the consultant's vision as the hit took most of the breath out of him. He heard the door to his bedroom slam shut and looked up. A burly man in a ski mask and a rather nice suit loomed over him, taking up a lot of room with his wide shoulders and thick chest. Jane's heart pounded in his chest as he stared up at the intruder above him.

"Ah, Mr. Jane, I presume?" the man asked in a hard, strong voice that matched his build.

Jane stared up at him and rubbed his chest. That was going to leave a mark. "You presume correctly," he replied braver than he felt. He looked up at his attacker and sat as still as possible. If he could get to the door, his cell phone was just down stairs. "May I ask who you are?" he asked as he slowly began to pull himself off of the floor.

The man quickly swung out a taser. _Okay, _Jane thought as he saw the electricity spark, _at least he's not here to kill me. _"Nice and easy, Mr. Jane. Nice. And. Easy."

"Sorry. Sorry." Jane raised his hands above his head in surrender. All he had to do was knock the taser out of his attacker's hands and he'd be able to run. The question was, how did he do that? He was more brain than brawn, and this guy looked like he could possibly be both. He began to form a plan in his head. "What do you want?" Jane asked as he imperceptibly began to move closer. He kept eye contact with his visitor, distracting him with his unwavering gaze.

"Why, you of course, Mr. Jane. Why else would I be here?"

Jane shrugged and gave a little grin. "For a glass of scotch, perhaps? I was about to go down stairs and have on myself. You could join me if you wanted." _Just a few steps closer_

The man laughed. "Very good, Mr. Jane. You're as funny as they said."

Jane paused. "They?" he asked. "Who are they?" This wasn't good.

The man just grinned. "You will meet them soon. Don't worry about it." He stepped closer to Patrick, the taser still flashing threateningly in the dark.

"Soon? Like, today?" He pretended to think. "I don't know if that will work for me. Besides, I'm not even dressed appropriately." _Okay, just keep him still, Jane. Make him think he is in control. _

_"_Come now, Mr. Jane, don't make this harder on yourself. I dont have to drag you out of here unconscious, but believe me when I say, I will if I have to." He kept the taser between them and grabbed a hold of Jane's arm with his free hand. Patrick winced as the iron grip clamped down on his arm.

"And that would be horrible. I hate being unconscious." Now what was that move Rigsby had taught him? He moved a foot closer to the man. "But, like I said, I don't know if that will work with me..."

In a quick flash of movement, Jane slipped his foot between the brawny mans legs and kicked upwards...hard. He winced as the man howled in pain and released his grip on Jane. The consultant hated to stoop to such rude tactics, but all's fair when you're trying to escape a kidnapper.

Jane took off down the stairs, his feet doing overtime as he tried to be quick and keep from falling over all at the same time. He heard a enraged snarl from above and looked up in enough time to see his attacker stumbling out of the bedroom. As Jane looked over his shoulder, he stumbled and flew down the last few steps, slamming into the floor. He coughed as air was forced out of his lungs, but the sound of heavy footfall behind him forced him back into action. He quickly scrambled upwards and took off towards the front of the house. He swiped his cell phone from a table just beside the stairs and hit a number on his speed dial, hoping and praying it was a CBI agent's number.

"Come on, come on!" he whispered as the phone kept ringing. He had almost made it to the living room when a shadow caught his eye. He paused just a few steps away from the living room and listened. Footsteps paced across the floor of his front room. They were slightly softer than his attacker from the bedroom. He cursed. There were two of them. Perfect.

"Hello?" Patrick started and ducked behind a wall as he heard Lisbon's voice on the phone. He had to find another way out of the house. "Hello?" repeated the tired voice.

"Lisbon! Lisbon!" he sighed into the phone. "Oh, gosh. You don't know_ how_ glad I am to hear your voice." He peeked around the corner and saw the figure of a man standing a few feet away from his exit. He had to get him out of there.

"Jane?" she asked. "You have a lot of nerve calling me," she hissed.

"Listen," Jane whispered, panic creeping into his voice as he heard the other man's footsteps coming closer to his hiding spot. "I don't exactly have time to apologize for hypnotizing you today." He ducked into the kitchen.

"Oh," she said, her voice betraying her anger. "So you do admit you hypnotized me?"

He cursed in the phone as he saw one of his attackers walk by the kitchen. He hid behind a counter. "Lisbon! I really dont have time for this! There are people in my house trying to kidnap me!" he quietly snapped.

"What?" came her surprised voice.

"I hate to admit it, but you were right." He glanced above the countertop and immediately ducked back down as he saw the two men standing in the hallway right outside the kitchen. "The note was threatening." A curse flew out of her mouth. "Yeah, those are my thoughts at well."

He heard the sound of covers rustling as she got out of bed. "Can you get out of the house?"

Jane chanced another look over the counter. His eyes widened. They weren't there anymore. "They're gone." He slowly stood up and walked to the doorway. He placed his back to the wall and looked out into the living room. "No one's there. I think I can make it out of the door just fine." He cautiously stepped out of the kitchen. Nothing happened.

"Be careful, Jane," she whispered into the phone. If he wasn't so terrified, he would have been touched by the worry in her voice.

He quietly crept out of the hallway and into the living room. "I will be. I'm almost to the door."

"And I'm getting in my car." He heard the sound of a key unlocking a door. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay, but stay on the phone with me," he said like a little, frightened child. He was almost there.

"Do you have any neighbors nearby?" she asked as she started up the car.

"One. She's a few blocks down though." He glanced around. Still clear.

"Fine, make your way to her house and call the cops. I'll be there in a minute, but still call them just in case."

Jane nodded and reached for the door, but his hand stopped a few inches shy. "Something's not right," he said. "This is way too easy." He dropped his hand.

"What do you mean? Just get out of there!" she yelled at him.

Jane looked behind him. "But why would they leave my most obvious exit unguarded? That doesn't make sense."

"Maybe they're stupid! Who cares? Just go!"

"They're obviously not stupid, Lisbon. They've been planning this for a while. Something's up. I just dont know--"

"There he is!" came the burly man's voice as he appeared in the hallway.

"Jane! Run!" shouted Lisbon. But the consultant was already way ahead of her.

He threw the door open and ran out of the house. He was almost off of the front steps, when someone shoved him from behind. Jane shouted out as he tumbled, head over heels, down the stairs and hit the concrete below. His cell phone skittered across the ground as he hit, Lisbon's frantic voice calling out to him. He crawled over to it, but something grabbed his foot and dragged him backwards. He turned onto his back to see two new guys glaring down at him.

"Hello, and you are?" Jane said, trying to hide his fear.

"Get him up!" shouted a severely angry voice from the front door. Jane was quickly jerked up off of the ground and held up by two men. The other two that had been inside the house came towards him, one looking slightly angry with certain Mr. Jane.

He heard it before he felt it.

The sudden sharp pain of a taser zapped through his body causing Jane's legs to buckle as he yelled out in agony. The two men held him up without a problem as another shock ripped through his body. He screamed as the last shock coursed through his body. He blinked back the darkness threatening to take him as the pain began to slowly recede. The man growled and grabbed a fistful off Jane's curly locks, jerking his head up painfully to look into the dark eyes of his captor.

"I told you, Mr. Jane, that I didn't have to drag you out unconscious. I didn't have to drag you out at all," An evil smirk spread across the man's face as he stared into Jane's terrified eyes. "But you forced my hand."

Suddenly, Jane's head jerked back as a fist landed itself on his face. The consultant groaned and tried to keep his eyes open as his head spun wildly. But when another fist landed itself on his temple, everything went black...

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"JANE! JANE!"

Lisbon yelled frantically into the phone as she heard her friend yell. A loud scraping noise assaulted her ears as Jane dropped the phone. She waited silently for him to pick up, but, instead, he heard his voice somewhere else. "Hello, and you are?" came Jane's voice. She heard the struggle as he tried to keep his voice strong. She swallowed hard.

"Get him up!" Lisbon's eyes widened in shock as she heard the same voice that she had earlier that day. The one from the mysterious caller. It was a little more angrier, but it was still the voice. She listened closer. Who were these guys?

She tensed as she heard a zapping noise followed by Jane's agonizing screams. Her heart plummeted into her stomach at the heart wrenching sound. What were they doing to him? Another zap and another Jane scream later, she slammed her foot on the accelerator and blazed down the road. She kept her ear to the phone.

"I told you, Mr. Jane, that I didn't have to drag you out unconscious. I didn't have to drag you out at all. But you forced my hand." Lisbon gasped as she heard flesh hit flesh, Jane's unmistakable groan coming through the speakers. Another blow followed, then, nothing. Lisbon's heart sped up. The sound of a van pulling up didn't help matters.

"Tie him up and get him out of here," ordered the mystery man. She heard the shuffling of feet and the sound of a van door being slid open. "What's this?" said a voice, closer to the phone this time. Lisbon held her breath as she heard the phone being scooped up off of the ground. There was a pause before, "I'm guessing this is Agent Theresea Lisbon?" It was the mystery caller.

"What have you done with Patrick?" she growled into the phone.

The voice laughed. "You mean Mr. Jane? Oh, he'll be fine. Don't worry about him."

"It's my job to worry about him," she snapped, anger burning in her chest. "What do you want with him?"

The voice chuckled, a cold and evil sound. "That is for me to know, and you to find out. We'll be in touch soon. Talk to you later, Theresea." With that the line went dead.

Lisbon threw her phone into the passenger's seat and gripped the steering wheel tighter. Tears stung her eyes as Patrick's screams echoed through her mind. What did they want with Jane anyway? And, a better question, who were _they_ anyway?

She looked down at her cell phone and jerked it back up off of the seat. She hit her speed dial and listened as it rang once...twice...three times, before someone picked up.

"Cho here."

"Cho. It's Lisbon." A tear escaped her eyes. "We have a problem."

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Okay, so...what did you think? Evil little cliffy, yeh? Haha! I guess I like messing with people as much as Jane does! Anyway, please review! Thanks!


	4. The Pieces to a Twisted Puzzle

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Mwahahaha! I am back! Okay, so I'm pretty excited about this story...if you can't tell. To be honest with you all, I've sort of had writer's block for a while. This story has helped me get back to my writing! I love the Mentalist! And you guys reviewing helped. THANKS!!!! As always, read and review. But most of all, enjoy!

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Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Mentalist or any of the wonderful characters that make this show...wonderful! I do, however, own the bad guys!

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"Here."

Lisbon looked up numbly as Van Pelt stuck a cup of coffee under her nose, the pungent steam of the drink tickling her nose. She wiped away a frustrated tear and smiled up at the young agent before accepting the coffee. "Thanks," she said softly.

"You looked like you needed it," she added sweetly.

Lisbon nodded. "Yeah, I did." She sniffled. _Pull yourself together,_ she chastised herself as more tears threatened to escape her eyes. She looked back up at Grace.

"We're going to find him," Grace said with more conviction than she felt. She was worried about Jane. True, he had been kidnapped, and that scared the heck out of her. Scared the heck out of them all. He was Patrick Jane. He didn't get kidnapped...at least, that's what they thought.

But that really wasn't what scared the young CBI agent. What scared her more was what they had found in his house.

As soon as they had received the call, every CBI agent on Lisbon's team had immediately gone to Jane's house to investigate; some of them were still in their pajamas when they pulled up. Lisbon had been waiting outside for them, Jane's discarded cell phone clutched tightly in her hands. When she had seen them, she had wiped away a tear and put on her "boss look" and began giving out hurried orders. With guns drawn, they entered the house.

All of them were taken back by the lack of furniture or character in the rather large house; there was nothing to suggest that Jane was the charismatic man that he had showed them everyday for six years. Little blank squares were up all over the house where pictures once hung. A single chair and a TV were the only things that suggested someone lived there, though it barely looked used. The same could be said for the rest of the house. There were no pictures, little furniture, and a few cooking utensils in the kitchen that were definitely never used. No real sign of occupancy. But that's not what surprised them the most.

Van Pelt had been sent upstairs with Rigsby to check out the upper rooms. When Grace had opened the door to Jane's bedroom, her knees had buckled underneath her. She remember feeling Rigsby's strong arms catch her as she fell, his voice filled with worry when he asked her what was wrong. All she could do was point with a shaky hand to the symbol painted over the lonely mattress lying in the barren room.

_"Red John..."_

Grace shook her head and pulled herself out of the reverie. It was a horrible seeing it once; she didn't want to keep reliving it. Lisbon, on the other hand, hadn't been able to get the picture out of her head since they had returned. When she had seen Red John's symbol over Jane's bed, she immediately thought the worst. The thought that Red John had gotten a hold of Jane was too much for her to handle. She was almost in tears until she realized that it wasn't fresh blood but old, dried blood. Not Red John's MO. It had been there a while. Eight years, to be exact.

The original symbol that Red John had painted on Jane's wall in his family's blood still hung there, staring down evilly from the wall at anyone who dared to enter the room. The nightmares that he must have made Lisbon shiver. When he had said he was out for revenge, Jane had meant it. Red John consumed his being; she was sure of that now. He was more messed up than she thought.

"It wasn't his blood," came Grace's gentle voice.

Lisbon looked up at her sympathetic smile and nodded. "I know...it's just..." Her voice dropped off and she looked down at her coffee cup, her eyes stinging with the strain of holding back tears. The pain he was still going through must be unbearable, and her heart was breaking for his. Not to mention the fact that he was still missing...

She felt a hand land gently on her shoulder. She looked back into Grace's understanding eyes. "He's Jane," she said with a smile. "He can get out of anything." _I hope..._

Lisbon smiled back, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Yeah, sure." She sighed and set the coffee cup down. "Did Cho or Rigsby find anything important at the house?" she asked, her emotional barriers up again. If they were going to find Jane, she needed to put her personal feelings for him aside and focus on the job. _Treat it just like another kidnapping case, _she told herself. _That's the only way you'll find him._

Grace studied her face for a moment. She hated it when her boss closed up like that, but she decided not to say anything. It was for the best. She'd talk when she was ready. "Nothing too important besides his phone in the drive way." She watched as a flicker of emotion passed over Lisbon's face. That phone call must have been hard to hear.

"And nothing else? No prints on the phone? Nothing?" she said, trying to keep her voice from cracking.

Grace shook her head. "No. These guys must have been planning this for a while. The only sign of a struggle was from an upturned rug at the bottom of the stairs." She watched as Lisbon became more frustrated. Jane meant a lot to her; that was obvious. He meant a lot to _all _of them...even if he was a pain sometimes. "What about the call? Didn't the guy say he'd been in touch with you?"

Lisbon nodded and took a sip of her coffee. "Yes. But you know I can't just sit here and do nothing," she snapped.

Grace nodded. "I know, but what else are we going to do?"

Lisbon gave a frustrated sigh and bit the inside of her cheek. "I don't know." Great, they had no lead and no Jane to help them find one. He was usually the one that could pull a lead out of nowhere, even if he had to irritate people to get it. She wasn't too good at doing that sort of thing. Always played by the book. She rubbed a hand over her face. If only she could think like Jane!

She blinked as the last thought crossed her mind. It was perfect! Think like Jane, not like Lisbon. She grinned and immediately ran over to the brown couch Jane loved so much. She drew in a deep breath as she saw his form lying there across it, smirking at her. Tears played around the edge of her eyes. _Keep it together. _She cleared the thought from her head and laid herself across it. Grace stared at her.

"Um...What are you doing?" she asked, completely caught off-guard by her boss's abnormal behavior.

Lisbon tucked her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. _Wow, this couch is pretty comfy_. "If we want to find Jane, we have to think like Jane." She laid there for a few minutes and began going through everything she had learned from Jane before he went missing. All the facts he had divulged sipping his tea...and the ominous note...

Suddenly, her eyes snapped open.

"I got it!" she shouted, almost gleeful. Grace jumped at the sudden outburst.

"Got what?"

A lead. She smiled and stood up, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket. She had to get Cho and Rigsby back here ASAP. "Now, I can see why Jane likes that couch so much," she smiled. "It's very..._informative."_

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_Oh...that hurts..._

Jane groaned as he began waking up, his body sending him little painful reminders that he had recently been forcefully kidnapped...and managed to tick someone off in the process according to his sore face and stomach. He tried to pull his hands up to his aching head, but found they were duct taped behind his back. Well, that complicates things, he said to himself. He opened his eyes to get a better look at his surroundings only to find out it hurt too badly to do so. He hissed in pain as the sudden change of light caused his head to spin. Okay, different plan. He decided to feel his surroundings first...a little trick he had picked up from being temporarily blind.

The first thing he noticed was that he was lying on his side on top of a rather comfortable bed with warm and gentle sunlight hitting his face. It was daytime. He guessed he had been out for a few hours. Next, he felt the covers with his fingers. _Silk sheets. Very nice. _He sniffed. _Cologne...the expensive kind._ He sniffed again. _Clive Christian No. 1 for men. Oh, no..._ He was starting to put the pieces together and didn't like what he was finding. He needed more information on his surroundings.

_Time to take a look around, _he thought to himself.

Slowly, he began opening his eyes. He sighed in relief as his head only gave him a dull throb. _Perfect. _His eyes took in the room. Mahogany furniture was arranged very neatly along the beige walls of the enormous room and a couch perched in the middle of the room a few feet in front of the bed Jane was lying on. An undoubtedly locked door stood a little ways off to the side, and a beautiful, crystal light fixture hung on the beautifully painted ceiling above the bed. There were two very large windows on the right side of the room, the curtains drawn back to let in the bright light of the day. A large, gold-framed mirror hung in between the two windows covering most of the space. Ornate paintings and decorations hung on the walls making the room seem more art museum than bedroom...or prison cell.

Jane tried to pull himself off of the bed, but gave a little moan when his stomach reminded him of the two taser burns his little kidnapper friends had left him. He lied back down and took in a few deep breaths. After the burning pain subsided, he awkwardly maneuvered himself to a sitting position without putting too much strain on his abdomen. He then carefully slipped off of the tall bed and landed on the cold, marble floors below. He grimaced. They took his slippers from him. He sighed and shrugged and made his way to the mirror.

"Oh, dear," he said aloud as he saw his face in the mirror. There was dried blood on his temple where he had been hit, and his face had a crescent shaped bruise on the side. He looked down at his abdomen where he'd been shocked and sighed. "These were my favorites," he muttered as he saw the taser holes in his blue pajama shirt. He made a little frustrated noise.

After a few muttered curses about "stupid kidnappers" and "stolen slippers," Jane began to look around for an escape. He looked at the windows to see if he could possibly open them and crawl out from there. The windows were indeed able to be opened, but the fact that he was two stories from the ground with nothing to assist him down made him rethink that idea. He studied the outside of what he assumed to be a house. If he could find a road, he might be able to figure out where he was. But with trees surrounding the whole complex, he knew that could prove to be impossible.

He shrugged and turned back to the door. It was probably locked, but if he could find something to pick it with, his problem would be solved. The consultant sat down on the floor and pulled his taped hands under and over his feet and to his front. He smiled. _One step closer to freedom. _He made his way over to the door and inspected the knob. A classic doorknob-style lock. He could pick that easily..._if_ he could find a hairpin or paperclip.

He quickly walked over to the drawers of the desk and opened them quietly. Everything would be ruined if they heard him up and moving. As far a they knew, he was still passed out cold on the nice silk sheets. _They're loss, _Jane chuckled to himself as he rummaged through the first drawer. He frowned. It was empty. He tried the other drawers, but, to his disappointment, there was nothing in any of them. He even searched the closet and chest of drawers for something but came up empty every time. He sighed and got on his knees to look under the bed. It was desperate, but he had to hope. His eyes scanned the underside of the bed frame and picked up a little glint in the corner. He smiled. He found one.

"What do we have here?" he whispered as he pulled the pin out. He sat back on his haunches and studied it. The little hairpin was black with a small, silver symbol glued to it. His eyes widened. It was the same pattern and shape as the broach on the Golden Gate Bridge victim. That confirmed a few more of his theories. He had to get out of there..._now._

Jane quickly made his way to the door, his heart pounding in his chest. The woman who died had been in that bedroom. Probably _killed _in that bedroom. If he was correct as to whom the kidnappers got they're orders from, he was in a _lot_ of trouble.

He bent down to the door and stretched the pin into a straight line and stuck it into the door. He jiggled the metal piece in the door. _Just a little to the..._Click. The door unlocked. Jane sighed in relief and prepared to open it. He paused, listening for any guards standing by his door. Nothing. He smiled. They really had underestimated him. He dropped the pin and prepared to walk out of his luxurious prison cell.

The door swung open, Jane praying the door didn't have a loud squeak. He let out a small breath of relief as it opened without a hitch. _So far, so good. _He gently closed it back behind him. He heard it lock behind him. Quietly, he crept across the very nicely polished marble floors and tiptoed gently down the staircase. His eyes darted here and there as he made his way down the stairs. So far, he hadn't seen one guard or servant in the house. _That's odd_, he thought to himself, _You would think they would have more security around a place as expensive as this. _Jane ate his words a few seconds later as he saw a young woman walk across the floor, her head buried in a magazine. With a little startled jump, he quickly ducked behind the rails and watched her leave. _That was close, _he thought as his heart pounded in his throat.

The woman disappeared behind a corner. As soon as he heard a door close, Jane was on the move again. He hit the bottom of the stairs and looked around. There were four different ways he could go. He looked to his right at a game room where several doors were located. The woman had gone through one of them. He decided not to press his luck going through there. He looked to his left where a very beautifully crafted door stood. He ran over to it, his bare feet slapping gently across the floor. He tugged on the handle, but found it to be locked. He sighed and looked forward. An arch towered above him and lead to a sitting room with several more doors inside of it. _Might as well_, he thought.

He peeked his head around the corner and saw nothing. Just a few large couches, chairs, tables, and books lying here and there. A typical sitting room but, thankfully, without the people. He silently made his way across the red carpeted floors and to the closest door. He pulled the handle. _Locked. _He tried the next door and frowned when he found it locked as well. It was the same with the rest of the doors in the room. He sighed._ Perfect_. Why didn't he keep the stupid hairpin again?

He tried one more door and smiled as the doorknob turned easily. He was finally getting somewhere...or not. _Of course. _He sighed as the door opened to reveal...an empty closet. He rolled his eyes and closed it back. _Rotten luck._

As Jane tried to decide what he was going to do next, he heard voices drifting through the mansion. He listened as they spoke. He wasn't able to catch all of what they were saying, but the way they were coming...that was a different story. Jane's breath hitched in his throat as the voices started coming closer to the sitting room. From the sounds of it, they were headed straight for him.

"We don't know where he went." Jane jerked in shock as he heard the mystery caller's voice right outside of the sitting room. He bit his lip and looked back at the closet. _This stinks..._

He quickly opened the door and ducked into the little space. And not a moment too soon, for the voices where just now entering the room. Jane held his breath as he listened to what he assumed, by the sound of the footsteps, to be two men.

"You lost him!?!" shouted a rather angry voice. Jane jerked again. He knew that voice, but couldn't place it. "How could you lose him!?!" the angry and familiar voice chastised. "He's a consultant for heavens sake!" Jane wrinkled his nose.

_I think that was an insult, _he thought grumpily to himself.

_"_I don't know. We went in to get him, and he was gone. The only clue we have is this."

There was a moment of silence, then, "A hairpin? He got out using a hairpin?"

"He's very resourceful," said Mystery Caller.

Jane smirked. _Resourceful? I'll have to tell Lisbon that...if I get out of here in one piece, that is._

There was an angered noise from the familiar voice. "Find him. Do you hear me? I went through great pains to get that man here. So don't you _dare _screw this up, or you will be joining that beautiful young lady under the Golden Gate Bridge. Understood?"

_Well, at least I found our killer, _he thought positively to himself.

"Yes, sir," came the forced reply.

"Good," the man sighed. "I don't mean to be harsh, James," Jane smiled. He had a name. Now if he could get that name to Lisbon... "It's just," He heard one of the men sit down. "Mr. Jane is the only thing standing between me and a jail cell."

Jane's mind whirled as the last words hit his ears. His heart slammed furiously in his chest as the familiar voice now became known. The last piece of his little puzzle had finally come together, and it fit all too well. Expensive silk sheets and perfume, golden rimmed mirrors, the woman in the hallway, the jail cell; they all came down to one person. A person who had killed hundreds of people who were in his way. A person who could kill anyone he wanted and get away with it, because he had "people." A person who had kidnapped Jane to stop Lisbon from going on with her investigation against him.

A person known as _Antonio Emilio..._

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So, do you like it? Hmmm? Its a cliffy and not as exciting as the last chapter, but it sets the next chapter up quite nicely. Some plans and hunches will be revealed next chapter. Review please! Thanks! Until next time!


	5. Almost There

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Hey! Sorry that I took a while updating! My life's been kind of crazy lately! Okay, so enough about me! Let's get back to the wonderful Patrick Jane! He's stuck in a closet in a baddy's house!

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Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Mentalist or any of the characters! I do, however, own the baddies and Jenny.

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Cho, Rigsby, and Van Pelt watched in a strange trance as their boss paced back and forth across the office. She held one hand behind her back and another on her chin. Her brows were knitted together in intense thought as her mouth moved silently, having a sort of "conversation" with herself. At one point, she paused and looked up at the ceiling with pursed lips. Then, as if she had some sort of answer from the ceiling, she looked back down and started pacing once more.

"This is freaking me out," Rigsby whispered out of the corner of his mouth. Grace looked over at him and nodded.

"Remind you of anyone?" Cho asked, leaning up against Rigsby's desk.

The three looked at each other. "Jane," they mouthed together, trying to hide a pained smile. They were starting to really miss the annoying consultant and his strange ways. The office seemed oddly empty without him pacing, sleeping, or bugging them with his strange habits. It had been almost ten hours now since Jane had gone missing, and they still had absolutely no leads. The only lead they even_ thought_ they had was still stuck in Lisbon's head right now, and she wasn't sharing quite yet.

The team mates returned their attention to their boss, wondering when she would ever stop and acknowledge their presence. Grace bit the bottom of her lip and played absent mindedly with a paper clip lying on her desk. Her boss was beginning to make her nervous. It had been about an hour since Lisbon had started pacing like this, and another thirty minutes since Rigsby and Cho had showed up. For the first few minutes, the three had tried to look busy; but the constant moving and mumbling from Theresea was starting to drive them all nuts. They had learned to get used to it with Jane, because it was his habit. It was his way of doing things. But with their boss...it was just weird.

After a few more minutes of her strange behavior, Lisbon paused. Her eyes brightened and a grin began to grow on her face. "Okay," Rigsby grimaced as the grin grew wider. "now she _definitely_ looks like Jane."

"I think I have it!" Lisbon said with glee. They all waited for her to go on, but she just stood there grinning like a certain blond haired man they knew. The three team members stared at her in wonder. She had been spending way to much time with Jane, and it was starting to show...a lot.

"Um, are you going to tell us?" Grace asked after a few more minutes of the horribly awkward silence. They were all worried about their boss; she was taking this think like Jane thing _way _too literally.

Lisbon blinked in surprise. "Hm," Her grin stayed in place. "this must be how Jane feels all the time," she chuckled to herself. "It feels pretty good." She placed her hands on her hips and gave a small nod of satisfaction.

Cho resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Yeah, that's great," he said impatiently. "Jane would be proud." He winced as the words left his mouth.

Lisbon stared at him, her arms falling numbly to her sides. Her eyes began to fill with tears, and her lips drew into a tight line with the effort of holding back her emotions. Cho's heart gave a small pang in his chest as he realized what he had just done. Lisbon was worried sick over Jane, and they all knew it. She may have looked like it didn't bother her, but it was all just an act to keep her team focused. Now, staring into her teary eyes, they realized just how big of a burden that was.

Cho walked over to Lisbon and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I-I'm sorry, Theresea," he whispered as his own strong mask began to falter. "I didn't mean it. I just wasn't thinking."

Lisbon looked up at him, a smile on her lips but not in her eyes. She placed her hand on his and patted it. "It's okay, Cho. I understand." She pushed his hand away sweetly and sighed. She placed her hands back on her hips, her emotionless mask back in place. "Sorry about that. I was acting a bit more like Jane than I should have," she chuckled half-heartedly, her eyes flickering with pain as she said the consultant's name. Grace caught the tiny flash of emotion, and her heart went out to her distressed friend.

"It's okay, Boss," Rigsby spoke from the back. They all turned to look at him. "I think we are all a little on edge right now. We don't know what were missing until its gone, and the one thing we all love is not here." He turned his intense stare on Theresea. "We're going to get him back, Lisbon. We are way too attached to that crazy man to let him go this easily. All we need is the lead that you've so 'Jane-ly' put together." He gave her a little wink and a grin. Lisbon gave him the first real smile they had all seen from her since Jane had disappeared. It was a wondrous sight to see.

Grace stared at the big man in awe. He really could be deep when he wanted to. She studied him up and down.

_Oh, he is so gorgeous..._

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Jane cursed to himself as he stood trapped in the closet. Everything he had been afraid of was true. He had been kidnapped by Antonio Emilio, one of the biggest mob leaders of California. Emilio was suspected of doing just about everything illegal you could think of. He went from selling pirated DVDs one day to trafficking drugs and women the next. But, unfortunately, murder and kidnapping...those were his two specialties. A specialty, Jane thought darkly to himself, that he no doubt was waiting to try on the consultant. Jane shook away his dark thoughts as the two men's voices began again.

"Mr. Jane is the only thing standing between me and a jail cell," Antonio said with a sigh.

"I understand, sir," James said quietly. Jane could hear something else in the man's voice and listened harder. What was it? Doubt? Hate? Reserve? He couldn't put his finger on it. He decided to just sit back and listen and hope they left sooner rather than later; he was beginning to get a little claustrophobic.

He heard someone stand up and pace the floor. By the sound of the expensive shoes shuffling across the carpet, it was most likely Antonio. "He couldn't have possibly gone far," Antonio continued after a minute. "I want you to search everywhere. Every room and closet." Jane winced. _Perfect. "_I don't care if it's locked or not. He may have found some other clever way to get in." Jane imagined the man waving around the hairpin that had been used in his escape and smiled. He really was clever.

"I already have men on that, sir," James said, the same emotion in his voice. Why couldn't he figure out that tone? It was beginning to irk him. It was..._irksome_.

"Good. You go help," Antonio asked more than ordered.

James answered, "Of course, sir," and Jane heard the footsteps of the mystery caller/camera man/killer leaving the sitting room. _That guy really gets around..._

Jane heard the creak of Antonio's office chair and cursed once more. Obviously, he was planning on staying for a while judging by the sound of papers being shuffled around and desk drawers being opened. Jane turned around to look at the empty closet, hoping he might find some sort of weapon to help his escape. If the only thing he had to do was get past Antonio, he could possibly pull it off. Emphasis on _possibly_...

Unfortunately, all he found was the same empty closet as before. He studied the inside of the tiny room noticing the two hollowed spaces on each side of the closet. Two metal rails hung between the two gaps, probably for hanging clothes. He cocked his head to one side and scrunched up his face in thought as he studied how they were attached to the hollowed out places. A little smile crept across his visage as he saw that they were detachable. Maybe he had a weapon after all.

As quietly as he could, Jane made his way towards the rails and placed his hands on one side. Gently, he lifted the first side of the rail off of it's perch, gritting his teeth as the metal slid across the wood. He paused and listened for any movement. The same paper shuffling was still going on; he was in the clear. He then carefully lowered the piece to the floor and let go...which was a horrible mistake. Without it's other half to hold it up, the other side of the rail fell off it's hold and clanged loudly to the floor. Jane jumped and hurriedly grabbed the rail back off of the floor, fumbling with it in his bound hands. _This is going to be harder than I thought, _Jane sighed to himself as footsteps began to hurriedly approach his hiding spot. He readied himself as best he could, steadying the rather heavy pole in his hands, and his heart pounding loudly in his ears.

He heard the feet stop at his door and a hand rest on the doorknob. Jane watched in fear as the handle began to turn and held his breath as he heard the latch undoing itself. He took let out a sigh and held the rail above his head as a crack appeared in the door.

_This is it..._

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The CBI team crowded around Lisbon's desk as she began to pull out the kidnapper's note. Every eye was locked on their leader as she placed the evidence bag carefully on the surface.

"Okay," she said as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves and pulled the note out of its bag. "we know that whoever left this for Jane was most likely our kidnapper. He was also our mystery killer according to Jane, and I know he was our mystery caller because of the...the phone call I received from Jane." She took in a deep breath to relieve the pain behind the statement before moving on, Jane's terrible screams echoing in her head. "The mystery caller also told us that whatever we found would have something to do with our current case. We can only assume he meant the fraud and murder case against Antonio Emilio."

Rigsby nodded. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you, but the forensic team looked into Jane's theory about the bugged broach on our victim's clothing." They all looked up at him expectantly. "Unfortunately, Jane was right...as always. It was definitely a bug. Just an audio bug, though. I guess they needed to confirm by voice which one of us was Jane before they, uh, you know..." He let the sentence drop as he saw the flicker of emotion in his boss's normally vacant eyes.

Lisbon took in another deep breath and gave him a fake smile. "Okay, good. Were you able to trace it?" she asked.

Rigsby bit his lip in embarrassment. "I honestly didn't think about that one. I'll get right on that," he said quickly, turning on his heel and practically running out of the office. Lisbon gave a little smile and turned back to the note. Hopefully the bug would turn up something more than she had at the moment.

"So, as I was saying," she resumed, turning back to the note. She felt everyone turn back to her, Grace after Rigsby was long gone. "this kidnapping case has something to do with Antonio Emilio. Whether he ordered the kidnapping or not, I'm not sure yet. My gut tells me he's in on it, but we have no proof."

"That means we can't bring him in for questioning," Cho said with disappointment.

Lisbon looked up at him and nodded. "Exactly." Her agents lowered their heads in defeat. "But..." Their heads shot up again. "We do still have the note. She pointed towards the post-it and smiled. "By the way it looks, this note wasn't a last minute thought. It wasn't quickly written. The handwriting is too neat and precise, so..." She gave a little grin.

"We can look at the pattern of the writing and figure out who might have written it," Grace finished with a smile. "If our mystery cameraman was the kidnapper, he's probably done this type of thing before and might be in the system. They have to sign their names for their release, right?"

"Right," Lisbon said with a smile.

Grace nodded. "I'll get started on that. Anything else?"

Lisbon winked. "Of course." She turned to Cho. "I was looking at the tape that was used to hang up the letter and found this." She lifted the note to his face and pointed at the tape. Cho's eyes widened in shock, a look Lisbon almost never saw.

"A fingerprint?" he gasped, his eyes still huge orbs in his face. "How did you...?"

Lisbon shrugged and gave him a half smirk. "My 'Inner Jane' told me," she chuckled. She pointed back to the note. "I want you to check that print out first then I want you to check the rest of the note, just in case. We may be grasping for straws, but at least it's something."

"Got it," they both said together.

"Then let's go. We have a consultant to save..."

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"What the--"

Jane swung as hard as he could when the target presented itself, the surprised face of Antonio suddenly snapping backwards from the force of the hit. Jane actually winced for the guy as the rail cracked across the man's skull. He watched as the mob boss fell to the floor without a fight. The blond consultant stood there for a second, surprised at how strong he apparently was. _I don't even work out, _he thought with a chuckle. He quickly bent down and checked the man's pulse. He was still alive. Unconscious but alive.

Jane grabbed the man's hands as best he could and began to drag him into the open closet. _But maybe I should start thinking about working out, _Jane panted to himself as he struggled to lug the man's bulky body into the closet. With a grunt, he finally was able to place the body in the closet and shut the door. He pressed up against the closet and took a deep breath as he looked around for something to hold the door shut until he was well away. He spotted a wooden chair a few feet away and quickly ran for it. He shoved the chair's back underneath the doorknob and smiled. "That should do it," he muttered. He looked back at the open doorway that lead to the rest of the vast mansion. "Now to find a way out of here."

He silently made his way to the edge of the doorway and poked his head around the corner. He smiled when he saw no one else in the hallway and stepped out of the sitting room, making a beeline for the last set of doors behind the stairs he hadn't tried yet. He was a few feet away from the door when it suddenly opened, three very burly looking men in black suits coming out.

"Gah!" Jane yelled in surprise as he slid to a stop and stared at the equally surprised men.

"That's him!" shouted one of the men. Jane cringed. That was James standing in front of him. _Wonderful... _

The three men converged forward, whipping out tasers as they did so. "Oh, come on!" Jane shouted as he turned and ran towards the game room, the men's footsteps echoing loudly behind him.

When he was inside, he quickly slammed the game room door shut and pressed his body to it as the force of several more bodies slammed up against it and began beating wildly at the door. Jane blew out a half-way relieved breath and hastily locked the door behind him. He then backed away from the door and watched as it shook a little from the force of the people hitting it. Thankfully, it didn't break down.

"Mahogany," chuckled Jane. He turned around with a triumphant smile on his face...and froze. Sitting at one of the chairs was a young woman. The same young woman that Jane had seen walking through the house reading a magazine. She stared at him in shock. Her wide, green eyes drifted from Jane's just as panicked face to his duct taped hands.

He held up his hands in a non-threatening way. "I'm not here to hurt you," he said as gently as he could under the circumstances.

"Wh-Who are you?" she managed to squeak out, studying him warily.

Jane looked down at his hands and smiled. "Um...would you believe I was a friend of your father, Antonio's?"

Her eyes darted back to his hands. "No. My dad doesn't normally tie up his friends." She paused and looked back into his eyes. Jane tried to look as non-threatening as possible and stood still. He saw her fear of him melt away. "Are you all right?" she asked, standing up slowly.

Jane chuckled. "I've been better."

She grimaced as she saw the blood on his face and the taser marks on his stomach. "I can see that," she whispered softly. The two jumped as another bang was heard on the door behind them followed by a loud curse. Jane's heart sped up as he heard more men running towards the door.

"I hate to ask this of you, but I could really use help," he said, staring into the girl's eyes.

The girl shook her head. "I can't do that," she said with sorrow. Jane studied her face. She seemed genuinely sorry that she couldn't help.

"Loyalty to your father?" he asked already knowing the answer.

The girl gave him a curious look then shrugged. "Yes, sir." Jane nodded in understanding. "But if I _was_ to help you, I would tell you about the scissors that _might_be lying in the desk drawer over there," she said with a little grin. Jane's eyes lit up as he turned his head and spotted the desk. He ran over to it and hurriedly tugged out the drawers until he found the scissors. As fast as he could, he began awkwardly cutting into the tape, not having very much luck at it. Jane's heart suddenly leapt into his chest as he heard the sound of a key entering into the locked door.

"Oh, no," he gasped. He was out of time.

"Oops!" Jane's hands were suddenly released. He looked over at the girl, confusion on his face. The girl just smiled mischievously and shrugged. "I must have tripped and accidentally cut you free! Whatever will I do?" she sarcastically said, still holding a pair of extra scissors in her hands.

Jane gave her a relieved smile. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," she said as the key began to turn in the lock. "You have to get through the third door on your left, down the first hallway, and out the sliding glass doors right ahead of that in order to escape." She bit back a smile. "And I don't know if you can do that."

He gave her another smile and a wink. "Thank you for _not _telling me how to escape, Jenny," he said before running quickly out the door she hadn't told him about.

Jenny stared at him in shock as he quickly rushed out the door. She barely noticed the sudden rush of men spilling into the room and heading through the door after the gorgeous and mysterious man that she had just met. He knew her name even though they had just met. He even knew who her father was, and she didn't even have to tell him. She smiled as she thought about the man. She picked her magazine back up and sat down in her chair like nothing had happened.

"Wow, he was cute..."

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Jane took Jenny's advice and headed down the first hallway he came to. His heart slammed against his chest as he heard footsteps trailing after him and angry voices shouting out orders. He smiled as he was coming to the end of the long hallway, the sliding glass doors to freedom in sight. Sunlight filtered through the doors and the trees of the woods outside gave him hope as he kept running as fast as he could towards the exit. Relief and happiness fluttered through him as he broke through the hallway and into the room ahead. But the feelings were short lived.

A sudden shock ripped through him as something cold and hard was pressed into his neck. He shouted out and felt his knees buckle, sending him crashing face first into the floor as he began to convulse wildly with the electricity in his body. He took in a deep breath as the effects from a thankfully not fully charged taser began to wane away. He tried to stand up, but a foot slammed into his stomach and brought him back to the ground. He curled his legs up to his stomach and groaned. Another foot slammed into his back causing him to cry out in pain. A hand then reached down and jerked the wincing Jane off of the ground.

"Mr. Jane," came the unmistakable voice of James. "We meet again..."

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Okay, so what did you guys and gals think? Good or bad? Great or cruddy? Tell me please! Thanks! Oh and a little **A/N: Did you guys catch the revised line from episode 1? Tell me if you did! Thanks!**

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